


Bad Kitty

by banjkazfan



Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Awkward Conversations, Budding Love, Cats, Eventual Smut, Happy Ending, M/M, Sibling Bonding, Slow Romance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-05-29
Updated: 2017-06-04
Packaged: 2018-11-06 09:29:55
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,663
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11033415
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/banjkazfan/pseuds/banjkazfan
Summary: When Gladio goes off to college, he smuggles the family cat into his dorm room.  Absolutely nothing could go wrong here, right?  Especially not concerning his smoking hot dorm neighbor, who seems pretty interested in his company as well.Add in the fact that Iris is quickly growing up under his nose, with or without him there, and Gladio's in for an interesting year.





	1. Settling In

Gladiolus Amicitia glanced down the empty dorm hallway, nervously shifting the duffel bag on his shoulder.  He wasn’t nervous about starting school; hell, he was excited to finally get some space from his family.  The idea of having a place of his own - however small the dorm was - without his sister underfoot and his father in his business all of the time was an alluring one, and he was anxious to get started.

He was more than a little nervous, however, about the contraband in his bag.

Gladio winced when he felt the contents of the bag beginning to shift around.  Dammit, why now?  He had to get to his room without being noticed.  He made his way down the hallway a bit faster than a typical walking pace, keeping his head down and trying to remain inconspicuous.  

Unfortunately, he wasn’t watching carefully enough to prevent running into another student.

“Shit,” Gladio bit out as they collided.  “I’m sorry; you alright?”  His hands were immediately out to steady the other student, and he was a little surprised when his gaze had to come nearly all the way up to lock eyes.

The other man was far more graceful as he brought his own hands up.  “No harm done,” he said, and Gladio was immediately entranced by his cultured accent.  His hand came up to brush through his tawny hair as if checking to ensure that the immaculate spikes were still standing.  “I apologize; I’m not usually so distracted.”  His green eyes seemed to glow as he gave Gladio a warm smile.  “Ignis Scientia; I believe I’m your neighbor.”  He extended his hand, and Gladio was struck by the unfairness of it all as his eyes roved over Ignis’ lean body.

Why oh why did his dorm neighbor have to be smoking hot and wanting to chat when Gladio was in a hurry to disappear into his room?

“Good to meet you,” Gladio returned with a grin of his own as he met Ignis’ grip.  “Gladiolus Amicitia, but just call me Gladio.”  He didn’t miss the slight flicker of Ignis’ gaze over his own body, and again Gladio lamented how horrible his timing was.  “Hey, uh...not to hit and run - literally - but my sister was nagging me to FaceTime her as soon as I get in.”  It wasn’t entirely a lie; Iris had hugged him with strength that belied her small frame and had threatened to beat him up next time he was home if he didn’t call her.  “But, uh, do you want to catch up later?”  His voice was more than a little hopeful as he smiled at Ignis.

Was that disappointment that Gladio saw, or was it wishful thinking?  As quickly as he noticed it, the look was gone.  “That would be nice,” Ignis agreed.  “I’m a little busy tonight, but perhaps we could reconvene tomorrow?”

Gladio tried not to appear too eager as he nodded.  “Sounds good.  I’ll be up pretty early; I like to run in the mornings and I’m lookin’ forward to getting to know the campus as soon as possible.”  The contents of his bag shifted again and he tried not to frown. 

Ignis chuckled softly.  “Another early riser, hmm?  I’ll be up early as well to arrange my work study.  Perhaps you can swing by after your run.”

“Sounds good.”  He grinned.  Space to himself, a hot as hell dorm neighbor, and said neighbor was interested in seeing him again tomorrow?  College was going to be fucking amazing at this rate.  “See you tomorrow, then.”

Ignis gave him a smile and a nod as he disappeared down the hallway, and Gladio let himself into his room.  He glanced around nervously, but let out a slow, relieved exhale when he found it empty.  He’d specifically sunk extra into his housing bill to ensure that he had a single dorm, not caring that it would be smaller than the ones where he’d need to share with roommates - he didn’t want to share his space in any way, shape or form.

Not to mention he was desperate to keep his secret.

Gladio exhaled and carefully set the bag down on the floor before unzipping it with the utmost care.  He peeked in and smiled tenderly at the sight of shiny blue eyes staring back up at him.  “Hey there,” he breathed softly, reaching in to offer his hand to the little furball in the bag.  A tiny chirp escaped the soft chocolate Siamese cat and she butted gently against the offered hand.  She still seemed a little out of sorts, and Gladio frowned.  “Sorry, Tribble,” he apologized gently.  “I was hoping the anxiety meds would help you sleep.”  

When Gladio had asked the vet a few weeks prior about moving the cat to college with him, anti-anxiety medicine had been recommended.  Of course he’d kept her in a carrier for most of the way, but as soon as he’d arrived on campus he had gently shifted her into an empty duffel in an attempt to smuggle her into the building.  The vet...was not aware of that part. 

Hey, it wasn’t his fault that the dorm had a strict no-pets policy.  Tribble had been part of their family for the past year, and he wasn’t gonna leave her behind.  Dad and Iris were too busy with how often she needed to socialize, and Gladio would admit that he was loathe to be away from the little fluff.  She’d really wormed her way into his heart when they’d adopted her, and they were inseparable.  She may have been adopted as the family cat, but she was honestly  _Gladio's_ cat.

Everything else had already been set up - litter box, food, water; really, the RA had to be completely unobservant to miss all of this going on - so Tribble was free to explore their new space.  Gladio smiled as he watched her nose around, looking for familiar scents and finding it in the toys that Gladio had brought and sprinkled about the room.  She seemed happy enough, and that let him relax as he settled onto his bed, nudging her favorite feather mouse towards her and reaching for his phone to FaceTime Iris.

The line rang only once before the screen changed to “connecting…” and Gladio smiled. Seemed she had been waiting for him. He could hear Iris’ voice before her video loaded and she shouted excitedly.

“ _Gladdy!_ ” Her picture came in only a moment later and she was smiling at him. “ _You finally called! What took you so long?!_ ”

“Sorry, Iris,” he said, trying to placate her. “Took me awhile to get set up. I would have been here sooner, but I met my new neighbor.”

“ _Ooh, you’re being a social butterfly already,_ ” Iris teased warmly.  “ _Hope he’s at least cute if you blew me off._ ”

Gladio chuckled and scratched the back of his head.  “Yeah,” he admitted after a moment.  “He’s pretty cute.”  And boy, but wasn’t that the understatement of the year?  Ignis being just _cute_ .  He was cute, he was gorgeous, his eyes were so _intense_ -

Suddenly Gladio realized that Iris was raising her voice, drawing his attention to her.

“ _You’d better not have let him go!_ ”  His sister frowned at him now, pointing almost accusingly.  “ _You don’t know how often you’ll get to see him!_ ”

Now he laughed at her.  “Yeah, Iris, he’s my neighbor; I’m going to see him again.  Actually...I’m gonna see him tomorrow after my run.”

Iris giggled and flopped across her bed, pulling her moogle plush Nono closer to her body.  Gladio had gotten it for her for her ninth birthday, and he was pleased to see that she still liked it.  As a girl of fourteen now, she sometimes liked to act as if she was too cool for childish things.  Seeing her cuddle with the childhood toy warmed his heart.

He had to admit that it made him feel a little better to know that his sister hadn’t changed too much over the years.  Maybe that meant she wouldn’t change too much while he was away, too.

“ _Already going on your first date?  Don’t neglect your studies, Gladdy._ ”  Her tone was teasing and she looked at him with a smile, her soft hair falling into her face.  It made her look even younger, and for a moment Gladio forgot that her teenage years were well underway.  She still was so sweet and innocent.

“Don’t worry, sis,” he said with a smirk.  “Maybe he and I can be study buddies.”

“ _Pssht, like I don’t know what_ that _means._ ”  Alright, maybe she knew a _bit_ more than Gladio wanted to hear about.  Thankfully she changed the subject, resting her head on top of Nono.  “ _How’s Tribble doing?_ ”

“Still a little groggy,” Gladio replied, looking to the cat.  She was currently sat in the middle of the floor, blue eyes staring a hole in the corner nearest her.  “Talked almost the entire way out of the city.”  He laughed a little.  “Finally settled in by the time we got to campus, though.”  He turned the camera around so Iris could see the cat.

“ _Hi Tribble!_ ”  Iris’ perky voice carried and she made soft kissing noises.  “ _I miss you!  But Gladdy’s gonna take good care of you!_ ”  Tribble looked in the direction of the phone, her tail slowly sweeping back and forth in a way that indicated she was feeling a little uncertain about the voice from the tiny box.  It sounded familiar, but she didn’t understand how it was coming from a small box.  She gave a tiny trill in turn.

Suddenly Gladio could faintly hear his father’s voice.  “ _Iris!  Come to the table!  It’s time for dinner._ ”

“Dad’s home tonight?”  Gladio was surprised.  Typically Clarus was working late most evenings at the office; Gladio had said goodbye to him the evening before as Clarus was going to be gone in the morning when Gladio needed to leave.

Iris nodded.  “ _Mmhm.  He got home about an hour ago.  Said we could order pizza and watch a movie tonight.  I even got to pick the movie!_ ”  She grinned and Gladio tried to ignore the little twinge in his chest.  He couldn’t remember the last time that he, Iris, and Clarus had all sat down for dinner together, let alone taken the time to watch a movie together.  But Iris looked so excited that Gladio pushed the thought aside.

“That’s great, Iris,” he said, smiling at her.  “I’m happy for you.  Hey, well, text me later, alright?  Tell me how your movie night was.  Tell Dad I said hey.”

“ _I will!_ ”  Iris hesitated for a moment before continuing her thought.  “ _Gladdy?  I’m gonna miss you._ ”

“I know.”  His answer was a little too quick, a little too abrupt.  “But I’m gonna be home for breaks, alright?  Not like you can get rid of me for long.”

That seemed to make Iris feel better and she nodded, pressing the heel of her hand to her eyes.  “ _You’d better, okay?  I don’t want to get rid of you at_ all _._ ”  Again Clarus’ voice could be heard in the background, so Iris leaned in and pressed her lips to the camera.  “ _I gotta run.  Bye, Gladdy - I love you!_ ”

He couldn’t help his own grin in return.  “Love you too, sis.”  He tapped the “end call” button and the app closed.  A little sigh escaped and Gladio lay back on the covers.  He and Iris had always been pretty close, and his college semester would be the longest that they’d ever been apart.  Who was she going to go to for advice, or when she needed to grouse about her friends?

Well, it wasn’t like he was going to become completely unimportant just because he wasn’t there, right?

...right?

Gladio pressed his lips together and reached for the book he’d tucked into his bag earlier.  He decided it was better not to think about that for too long and to instead lose himself in the book that Iris had given him.  

“She’s fine, right?”  Gladio glanced over to Tribble.  “She’s gonna be fine.”  What he really meant was that _they_ would be fine, but he couldn’t bring himself to say it aloud.  It seemed childish, even if he was just talking to the cat.  Tribble responded with a slow blink before delicately lifting her leg and licking at herself. 

Gladio gave a low rumble in the back of his throat as he cracked open the book.  “Thanks for your input.”  Tribble chirped softly before continuing to lick herself.

Maybe reading the adventures of Balthier the sky pirate would be enough to keep his mind off of everything.


	2. Chattercat

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gladio learns the first pitfall of having an illegal cat in his dorm.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for all the kind responses to this so far! I'm sorry to keep you waiting, so I wanted to put up at least a little. Thanks for your patience with this; I've been a little burned out lately but I really don't want to let this go :)

_ Mrrrow. _

Gladio jolted awake and fumbled for his phone, squinting as the light of the display nearly blinded him.  Oh, god, it was 2:24 AM and Tribble thought this was a good time to start a conversation.  Normally he could sleep right through her trilling, but being in the unfamiliar environment left him a little on-edge and unable to sleep deeply.

To be frank, Gladio hadn’t considered this.  He hadn’t thought about Tribble’s tendency to talk and how that could be a problem in the dorm.  He bit back a curse.  Here he thought he’d done well considering every single possibility, but he’d forgotten just how much the cat liked to talk.  He guessed that was because he’d mostly learned to tune it out.

_ Miiiiiaoooow. _

“Aw, Tribble, c’mon,” he groaned, rolling over and reaching out a lazy hand towards her.  “Settle down and go to sleep.”

_ Miiiiiieeeaaaaaoooww!   _ Tribble’s voice carried urgently like she was trying to tell Gladio the secrets of the nuclear warhead, but damned if he understood what she was getting at.

“You’re gonna get us thrown out,” he grumbled, getting out of bed and padding through the darkness to find the cat.  But Tribble found him first, winding her slim body around his ankles and continuing to express...whatever the hell she was currently expressing.  Gladio sighed and bent over, carefully picking her up.  “Alright, c’mon; you can tell me all about it in bed.”  He carefully picked his way back over to his bed, carrying the cat, and settled into the blankets.

Gladio stretched out in the nearly-too-small bed and sighed as Tribble chittered softly and curled against his side.  He ran his hand gently over her soft fur and frowned as he tried to identify the strange feeling in his chest.  He didn’t understand.  He’d been so eager to have his own space, but all he could think about was that he couldn’t hear the typical noises of his house.  He couldn’t hear Iris’ soft breathing, Clarus’ footsteps as he came in at midnight after a long day of work, or even the traffic of the city that he’d grown accustomed to.

Shit.  Gladio turned over and pressed his face into the pillow, trying to ignore the lack of comforting background noise.  It didn’t mean anything.  He was fine.  This was alright.  He had the space he’d wanted, he had Tribble…

...yup.  Just the two of them.

Gladio pulled the blankets up over his head and Tribble started to purr softly as if sensing Gladio’s upset.

Goddammit.

… 

His alarm went off only a few hours later at 6, though he hardly needed it.  Gladio hadn’t slept soundly at all, and the early sunrise had him snapping awake in a breath.  Tribble was still asleep at his side, purring gently like a little motor.  Gladio smiled at the sight, reaching down and stroking a gentle line down her spine and chuckled when she interrupted her purring just to trill in acknowledgement.

“Yeah, you keep sleepin’,” he murmured, working carefully to extricate himself from under the blankets without disturbing Tribble.  He mostly succeeded, though she cracked an irritated eye at him when he stood.  “Alright girl, I’ll be back in a bit.  Gonna go for a run.”

It took him a few minutes to find his running clothes, which he’d haphazardly thrown into another duffel.  He’d have to unpack his clothes at some point before classes started on Monday, but right now he was itching to run.  Quickly he changed and gave Tribble a pet before leaving his dorm, locking the room behind him. 

The campus really was nice.  It was large, and Gladio knew that most people would probably choose to drive across it just for ease.  He knew, however, that he was going to either walk or bike it.  It was absolutely gorgeous, with beautiful landscaping work done and plenty of flowers and trees.  There were places to sit and enjoy the weather, and Gladio knew that he had made the perfect choice for a school, aesthetically speaking.

He ran for about an hour, just getting himself acclimated to the layout and where the different buildings were.  He knew that most of his classes were in one building, for which he was thankful, but it was still good to know where everything was.  By the time he got back to his dorm building, he’d worked up a good sweat.  He took the stairs two at a time, passing the door he’d noticed Ignis coming out of, and smiled a little.  He’d wait to knock on the other man’s door until he’d showered, but knowing that he was going to be meeting Ignis in a little bit made his heart beat a little faster. 

He locked the door behind him and grinned down at the sight of Tribble playing with her favorite mouse. “Hey you,” he laughed. “Seems you're up and about.” She looked up at him and meowed in response. “Yeah? Good to know. I'm gonna shower and then go meet the new neighbor. Be good, alright?” Tribble seemed more interested in her toy than in his words and Gladio shook his head. Fickle. 

A quick shower and outfit change later and he stood in front of Ignis’ door. Gladio drew himself up a little taller before he knocked. 

Almost immediately the door opened and Ignis stood before him. “Mornin’,” Gladio greeted him with a smile. “Hope I didn't wake you.”  He highly doubted it; Ignis looked incredibly well put-together, as if he’d been awake for a while.  Damn, it was only 7:30 and he was already wearing slacks and a button-down.  His eyes were bright and clear and Gladio was immediately drawn in by the seafoam color.

Ignis smiled in return. “Good morning. I've been awake since five; don't worry about it.” He opened the door a little wider. “If you'd like, you can come in for a moment. I thought we could go for coffee if you're interested, but I just have a few things to finish first.” 

“Yeah, that's fine.” Gladio stepped inside, nudging the door shut behind him. 

Ignis looked over a stack of papers on his desk, carefully checking the sheets for errors.  “I'm just ensuring that everything is in order for my work study,” he said.  “I will be assisting as a tutor when I’m not in classes, if all goes as planned.”

That interested Gladio.  Gorgeous and smart, huh?  “Any subject in particular?” he asked, crossing his arms and leaning back against the door.

Ignis smiled, though it seemed a little embarrassed as he spoke.  “Most of the core subjects,” he admitted.  “And possibly more specialized ones, once I’m able to choose a major.”

“Damn.”  Gladio grinned at Ignis, a genuine smile on his face.  “Pretty smart, aren’t ya?”

Ignis’ cheeks flushed an alluring shade of pink as he ducked his head.  “Thank you,” he managed.  It seemed as if he didn’t want to speak further of it though, clearly a little embarrassed, and Gladio picked up on it.  He decided to cut the other man a break.

“You sleep alright?” he asked.  “First time on your own and all, I figure.”  The other man hadn’t looked tired, at least, but Gladio wanted to keep the conversation going.

“I’ve been self-sufficient for a number of years now,” Ignis said easily as he tucked the papers into a manilla envelope, “but I slept well enough, thank you.  I swore I heard something in the middle of the night, but I must have imagined it.”  He chuckled as he removed his keyring from an immaculately-hung hook.  “I mean, who would have been meowing at 2:30 in the morning?” 

Gladio’s stomach twisted.  Well,  _ shit _ .  “Huh, I didn’t hear anything,” he said, trying to keep his lips from pressing together so hard that they disappeared.  He could already feel the sweat beading at his hairline, however, and his pulse was beating in his ears.  Dammit, he hadn’t even been on the campus a full twenty-four hours and already someone knew about his cat.   _ Dammit! _

Ignis must have noticed the look on Gladio’s face because he frowned as he crossed the room to stand beside the taller man.  “Gladio?  Are you quite alright?” he asked, tilting his head curiously.  “You seem unwell.”

Gladio desperately tried to push away his nerves.  He really,  _ really _   wanted to get to know Ignis better, and he wasn’t going to let the fear of his illegal cat being discovered stop that.  He grinned instead.  “Nah, just wondering what you might have heard.  Maybe someone on our floor’s been watching cat videos.”

Ignis regarded him for a moment, as if trying to decide whether or not he was telling the truth, but he seemed to let it go for now.  “Perhaps,” he agreed, opening the door.  “Would you like to walk with me to my favorite coffee place?  It’s called Libra Elementia and I’m always dying to share it with someone.”  He glanced at Gladio, his eyes full of meaning that Gladio didn’t dare hope too hard about, and led the way into the hallway.

“That sounds perfect.”  Gladio stepped out and pulled the door shut behind him, letting Ignis lock up.

Oh yeah - this was going to be a good day.  He could feel it.

**Author's Note:**

> Based off of one of the hilarious OTP prompts that I found on tumblr, which I of course had to write with Gladnis. I won't entirely spoil the prompt here because I want that enjoyment to come when the true nature of it is finally revealed :D
> 
> I'm honestly not normally one for college AUs, but I just had to write this idea. Note that there will be eventual smut - hope you'll all enjoy that! But honestly I want a lot of the focus to also be on Gladio's relationship with his sister, as well as his relationship with Ignis. Regardless, there will be eventual smut, haha.
> 
> Thanks for taking the time to read!!


End file.
